On and off the rink, it's about family

All those hours pay off when Colonial Classic teams hit the ice

By Marie Donovan , Sun Correspondent

Updated:
01/06/2013 07:12:02 AM EST

LOWELL -- The commutes are long, but worth it.

Christine Longo has made the drive from her home in Farmington, Conn., to the Boston area for several years now to countless practice sessions for her daughter's skating team, The Haydenettes, which uses rinks in Lexington and Marlboro.

"We commuted an hour and 45 minutes, three days a week," until Jenna Longo started college at Bentley University, where she is now a senior, her mother said.

"This is our second family now. These girls are like sisters."

All that commitment pays off for girls and young women like Jenna Longo, Abigail Goslin and their teammates, including Kelly Ottaviano of Reading, a student at Merrimack College, who took part in the annual Colonial Classic Synchronized Skating Competition at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell on Saturday. And dozens of devoted parents sat in the stands to watch their children compete.

"I have seven kids and my other kids always have to work around Abigail's schedule," said another Haydenette parent, Robin Goslin of Wrentham. "When she travels, they often have to travel with her."

The Haydenettes, who skate in a 16-person formation, have won bronze medals at the past three world championships of synchronized skating, which are slated to be held at Boston University's Agganis Arena on April 5 and 6. The team is also a 20-time national champion.

The Colonial Classic features teams from as far as Delaware, Richmond, Va.

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, and Washington, D.C.

Laurie Lombardi of Albany, N.Y., was sitting in the stands at the Tsongas Center with fellow Achilles Edge parents Chris Van Oort, Pat Clancy and Colm Kennedy, waiting for their daughters' team to compete.

"I had three daughters on the team, but two are in college now. My 10th-grader, Isabelle, has been skating on the synchro team since the first grade," Lombardi said.

At last year's three-day Colonial Classic, "my daughter Stephanie competed at 11 p.m. Some kids were competing at 1 a.m. and then re-competing at 10 a.m.," she said.

The sport isn't just a big-time commitment for parents. It's a major financial investment.

Goslin's mother drove Abigail to every practice until Abigail started school at Daniel Webster College in Nashua. Robin Goslin estimates her daughter's skating cost more than $10,000 per year.

"A pair of skates is like $1,000," said Pat Clancy, whose daughter, Taylor Kennedy, is on hiatus from the Albany Figure Skating Club's Achilles Edge team while she attends American University.

"The fee for the dresses is $300. The Haydenettes' are like $1,000, because they have gems on them," Clancy said of the Lexington team's dresses, which Abigail Goslin confirmed are all hand-beaded by their coach, Saga Krantz.

"It's harder for a small club like Albany to compete against the big teams, most of which have been skating together for eight to 10 years," said Lombardi.

"My parents always drive me to practice and for the past two years, both my parents have come to practice to video or play music, so they're both very involved and supportive," Ottaviano said.

Her grandparents, Eleanor and Joseph Ottaviano of Waltham, have generously helped her parents, Lorraine and Stephen, cover the cost of the sport.

"I've been involved in the Haydenettes organization since I was about 10 or 11," Ottaviano said. "I came up through the ranks from the Ice Cubes to the Ice Mates to The Lexettes and then I made Haydenettes the next year."

For the parents, the sacrifices are all worth it to help their daughters pursue their goals.

"You do it because they have such passion for the sport," Christine Longo said. "All these younger girls want to be a Haydenette. It's a really strong passion at this level. We did homework in the car for years. You just do what it takes."

The Colonial Classic, sponsored for the 29th year by the Colonial Figure Skating Club of Boxboro, continues at the Tsongas Center from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday.

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